"Es una mezcla de racismo, resentimiento de clase, miedo al cambio, inexistente control de armas y políticos que quieren inflamar y explotar todo esto para mantenerse en el poder", explicó Jeffrey Butts, profesor del centro John Jay de Justicia Criminal de la Universidad de Nueva York.
Newsweek Magazine — ‘Defund the Police’ Is Dead But Other Reform Efforts Thrive In U.S. Cities
"My main concern is that [politicians] don't care about the details, they just want to have a good sound bite and a good promotional campaign," says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
CNY Central — Onondaga County Considering “Violence Interrupter” Program, First of its Kind in Syracuse
Dr. Jeffrey Butts, the director of research at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has studied violence interruption programs at the national level. He explained that it's difficult to quantify just how effective these programs are, as violence interrupters in other cities primarily deal with trying to change the community culture through relationships to avoid violence.
Bureau of Governmental Research — Beyond Law Enforcement: Exploring Community-Based Strategies To Make New Orleans Safer
Jeffrey Butts participated in a panel hosted by the Bureau of Governmental Research in New Orleans, discussing the potential of community-based violence prevention strategies.
WBUR Public Radio: Here & Now
Police have announced a suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting that left many wounded Tuesday. We discuss the implications of the apparently random gun violence with Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Le Monde — La police de New York lancée aux trousses d’un tireur du métro de Brooklyn
Il est cependant rare d’assister dans les rues de la capitale économique et culturelle des EtatsUnis à une attaque impliquant en une fois autant de blessés par balle. « Je ne me souviens pas d’un précédent de ce type », note Jeffrey Butts, professeur au JohnJay College of Criminal Justice de l’université de New York. Pour lui, le Covid19 « n’est pas une cause directe » de la hausse de la criminalité dans la ville, « mais le virus a perturbé toutes les structures sociales – logement, emploi, scolarité – qui maintiennent habituellement les choses sous contrôle »
Baltimore Sun — After killings of 3 workers, Baltimore’s Safe Streets anti-violence program at a crossroads: ‘We have to continue to evolve’
Understanding what work is being done, anything that lets researchers “pull back the curtain,” is important, said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research & Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
The Virginian-Pilot — In Portsmouth, Violence Interrupters Defuse Tense Scenes Before the Bullets Fly
Jeffrey Butts, a researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, likens it to the decades-long — and eventually successful — campaign to end smoking. “So can that strategy be used to reduce the incidence of gun violence? And that’s the big question,” Butts said.
Neighbors at Risk
Shooting incidents reported in each New York City census block group were divided over the population to create yearly rates of shooting incidents. Researchers then ranked all CBGs based on their rates of shooting incidents and identified the 50 CBGs with the highest rates in each year from 2015 to 2021.
NYTimes — Shootings Rise in New York, Coloring Perceptions of City’s Safety
. “It reminds me of the 1990s, in the sense that every incident of violence becomes a major news story,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the research and evaluation center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
NY1— Shootings Rise in Bronx, Fall in Brooklyn, as Anti-gun Efforts Start
“If all we ever do is call the police in, and we never invest in those other things, we’re just living in a police state,” said Jeffrey Butts, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “We sort of did that in the ’80s and ‘90s, and didn't get much back from it.”
CSM — CURBING CHICAGO CRIME, ONE JIGSAW CUT AT A TIME
“There’s a whole garden of approaches, with different styles and modalities and theories of change,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “What’s new, or seems new, is that we’ve reached the point that relying on law enforcement for all of our public safety problems became too obviously problematic.”
NY1 — Shootings Data Show New Trends in Gun Violence
“The things that cause crime to go up and down are largely societal, structural,” said Jeffrey Butts, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It’s about employment, poverty rates, drug abuse, types of drug being abused, neighborhood conditions.”
Fox News — Massive Crime Spike Stems from Social Unrest, COVID Lockdowns Destabilizing Communities: Expert
Professor Jeffrey Butts, the director of John Jay College’s Research and Evaluation Center, said that in some respects conservatives and liberals are on the same page with gun control. "The far left and the far right are actually pitching the same story," he said.
New York Magazine — The Risks of Overselling Violence Interruption
The key, we heard over and over again, is to have cops work in tandem with community-based “violence interrupters” — credible messengers from troubled communities who have the savvy and connections to quietly intervene at critical moments and persuade gang members, dope dealers, and other weapon-carriers not to resort to violence.
Al Jazeera — Responding to Gun Violence in New York City
"If we start to define public safety though, in terms of how much money we spend on policing, that's the wrong approach."
La Nacion — Nueva York, ¿Laboratorio para Frenar la Violencia Armada?
“Nueva York es un gran laboratorio para ensayar estrategias porque tenemos una variedad de condados, pero todos en el mismo contexto político y cultural”, dijo a la AFP Jeffrey Butts, profesor e investigador del centro de Justicia Criminal John Jay, que ve necesario “un enfoque diverso”, para atajar la violencia que contemple la “disuasión, coerción y prevención”.
Barrons: Violent Killings Shock NY, Bring Back Bad Memories
Jeffrey Butts said the fact that America is awash with guns -- there are an estimated 400 million of them in the country, more than the population -- makes it prone to deadly violence.
ABC News — Lessons from a ‘Violence Interrupter’ as Shootings Continue to Ravage Chicago
"[Violence interrupters] are from the same streets, grew up in the same areas and had the same experiences as young people and so they just have more access and access means influence," said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "The possibility of influencing someone's behavior and attitude is stronger if you come at them as an equal."
Shooting Trends Vary Across Areas of New York City
Shootings in New York City remain a serious concern, and the most recent from NYPD data show different areas of the city are experiencing different trends.
WYPR Midday — Do Violence Interruption Programs Work? Some Critical Perspectives
Jeffrey Butts joins Amos Gelb and LaTrina Antoine with WYRP host Tom Hall in a discussion about the effectiveness of violence interruption programs.
Philly Doesn’t Need to Reinvent the Wheel to Reduce Homicides | Opinion
I often wonder, how did we get here — ending August with 357 homicides, on track to be our deadliest year recorded for shooting deaths?... Other cities, like New York and Oakland, Calif., have been where we are today but made improvements. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. A report published last year by John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Research and Evaluation Center, authored by a diverse group of academic consultants, lays out a framework for action I believe we can apply in Philadelphia.
The Evidence for Violence Interrupters Doesn’t Support the Hype
“The evidence is mixed,” Butts, who led the 2015 review and subsequent research on interrupters, said. “We need to do more studies.”
Groups Arise, Spurred by Minneapolis Gun Violence, to Enact Early Interventions
Jeffrey Butts said that while he is encouraged by1 the Biden administration's public commitment to gun violence research, long hobbled by years of underfunding at the federal level, more attention needs to be paid to community-based programs that don't rely on police intervention.
New York Times — Is New York’s Wave of Gun Violence Receding? Experts See Reason for Hope
“The Brooklyn recovery seems more striking than other boroughs,” Dr. Butts said. “The Brooklyn spike is horrendous when you look at it over time. But the most recent quarter, the data point is back to where it’s been bouncing around for the past 15 years.”
Jeffrey Butts 